Rueter Scagali Bennett LLP Essay Prize in Legal Ethics

The Chief Justice of Ontario’s Advisory Committee on Professionalism, with membership spanning from across the Bench and the Bar, the Law Society and the Academy, focuses on a number of initiatives to support the teaching of professionalism in our law schools and throughout the profession.

As part of this effort, the Committee established an annual award in 2010, sponsored by the law firm of Rueter Scargall Bennett LLP, to encourage law students to think and write about the legal profession and acknowledge the best student papers on any subject relating to legal ethics and professionalism.

The prize is awarded annually by the Chief Justice of Ontario’s Advisory Committee on Professionalism to three law students registered in a JD or LLB program at a law school in Ontario for the best previously unpublished papers on any topic relating to legal ethics and professionalism.

Papers must be at least 2,000 and not more than 6,000 words inclusive of footnotes or endnotes. Submissions must be in a Microsoft Word compatible format. The applicant's name and university should be noted on the front page of the essay, but must not be shown on any other pages of the essay.

The author of the best paper will be awarded $3,000. The authors of the other two award winning papers will each be awarded $1,000. The first-prize paper will be published in a suitable venue. Additionally, all winners will be invited to a dinner with the Chief Justice of Ontario and the Treasurer of the Law Society of Upper Canada.

Papers for the 2013 award should be submitted by email to Jacob Bakan in the Office of the Chief Justice of Ontario at jacob.bakan@ontario.ca no later than February 28, 2013. The awards will be announced following the end of the 2012-2013 academic year.

2012 winners

The Chief Justice of Ontario’s Advisory Committee on Professionalism and Rueter Scargall Bennett LLP are proud to announce the winners of the 2012 Rueter Scargall Bennett LLP Essay Prize in Legal Ethics.